As the Wife of a Prostate Cancer Survivor I’m Eternally Grateful for Colorado’s Early Blood Draw

As we approach the season for expressing gratitude and good wishes to friends and family, I have one important thing among many to be thankful for: Colorado’s Early Blood Draw program.

Why would I focus my gratitude on that?

Because it may have saved my husband’s life!

Let me explain…

My husband, Les, was able to get a basic blood panel workup in Gunnison, CO through the Early Blood Draw program, which was covered by our health insurance. One of the things they checked was his PSA level. Doctors use the level of a man’s PSA — which stands for prostate-specific antigen — as one of the screening tools for diagnosing prostate cancer. When he was first checked in 2016, his PSA was at 3, which is towards the normal end of the scale. But then, with later blood tests, it started going up and up and up. By March of 2017 it hit 9.77!